Saturday, November 7, 2009

Edwards Air Force Base sure knows how to put on a show! This year, they welcomed more than 225,000 guests for the Flight Test Nation Air Show & Open House. (Edwards AFB is the reigning "test base" where they not only train test pilots and engineers but also conduct thousands of cool tests--in the lab and in the sky--to make military aircraft, etc., better.) Matt and I were happy we were "home" for the big event!

The air show started early in the morning and had scores of performers in the air throughout the day. We moved to a limited-access location toward the end and finally whipped out our camera to get a few shots of the sky. (Please ignore the fact that we didn't take pictures of the 6 other hours of awesome tricks and reenactments.) There were planes from every generation... ... doing all sorts of crazy things, like nosediving and flipping in every direction. Thanks to Matt's job for the day, we were watching from the hangars...

... where each plane landed after its performance. (See the pilot climbing out on the right?)

Meanwhile, back on the ground, it was a madhouse trying to get anywhere!

There were dozens of incredible planes, like this spy plane that my dad has displayed a picture of in his home office for years.

I must say, seeing the real deal was pretty sweet!

Other planes allowed you to walk right on up and check out the cockpit...

... while still others let you walk right on through!

This NASA space shuttle carrier fell into the last category.

Although, as I'm sure you can imagine, the lines to get inside were quite long.

But I suppose that's what happens when 225,000 people come visit.

We're definitely looking forward to welcoming a few visitors of our own for the next air show in 2011!

That is so neat Ash! I love looking at all your posts, you guys have done so many cool and exciting things. You two are seriously the PERFECT couple! Miss you and love you! I am really excited to see you again in a few weeks!! :)

Very Cool. Your pictures were awesome. I am going to the airshow in Las Vegas this Saturday at Nellis AF base. Should be fun. That's great you got to watch the show from the Hangars. You are having a great experience in California.